Clearing The Site

Back in November, before we could get building we had to clear the site of some beautiful but sadly misplaced trees. An apple tree or two would be lovely, but possibly not in the kitchen diner!
Tony discovered the beauty of chainsawing. 

A huge thanks to Karen and Rob for their (long) loan of said chainsaw. Yes, we still have it…as we are putting off tackling the huuuuge Laurel hedge!

After while Tony got a dab hand at being a lumberjack (and dare I say even seemed to relish the task). No checked shirt in sight however! I even had to point out at one point that that twig really didn't need chainsawing it could just be clipped. Mr. efficient. But in time a fantastic pile of logs for our as yet unbuild log burning stove. We thought it was so big it would last for years, although, it has since been pointed out we'll be lucky for it to last one winter!


We then proceeded to have the mother of bonfires that lasted several days....

This photo doesn't seem to do it justice somehow. Although, my eyelashes, or lack of a couple, can testify to it's size and heat. 

A few days later and just a smouldering ash pile, in the middle of a lonely, empty patch of grass...blissfully unaware of what was going to happen to it....

Demolition

The two garages needed to be removed to make way for the new access road.

The first was a pre-fab garage and was dismantled and taken away buy an eBay buyer.

The second was somewhat more of a challenge requiring, brute force and machinery!

The rubble was saved to use later for the retaining walls at the bottom of the garden.

Naming

We approached Croydon Council with some ideas for a name. Quite a few of our suggestions involved the word 'Hartley'. For reasons of emergency service confusion they understandably weren't too happy with this. So we then put our thinking caps on.

Esledes

Esledes is a Saxon word meaning slope or hillside. It is also the name of an old Saxon village in Kent and first appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086. Apparently in these times the letter 's' was sometimes silent, (confusing for the Axons no doubt!) and through time the name evolved to be Leeds.

This is the reason why the Castle that now stands there is called Leeds Castle and has nothing to do with Leeds in Yorkshire.

So as well as having a sloping plot to contend with Esledes is also appropriate as it is where we were married in 2002.

A Short History of Esledes

1086 - First Mentioned in the Domesday Book
1087 - 2001 Lots of other stuff involving wars, Kings, Queens etc
2002 - Tony & Julie get married

Planning Permission Granted

Planning permission was granted on the 18th August. We had submitted a carefully thought out design that met all the criteria described in the previous planning application history and of course the Council's planning policy. Therefore we saw no reason for refusal but it was nevertheless a nervous wait!

We now need to get the planning conditions discharged....